Maybe we weren't quite as wide-eyed and willing to be challenged once we moved to Singapore as we were when we first moved to Hong Kong. I'm not sure. I just know that there seemed to be an endless path of obstacles to settling in here. In fact, I still don't have a PIN for my ATM card, as one example. Everything we attempted was like one step forward, two steps back because each thing hinged on something else: opening a bank account, paying bills, opening other accounts. I know I shouldn't complain, really. I do have all day to solve problems, but I felt so frustrated at the end of every day when none of the attempts got us anywhere. I was at a point where I was hoping for not even a good week but simply a week where everything wasn't so difficult. I'm filled with excuses for not writing, but this is probably why I hid from it for so long.
Now that the dust is starting to settle (really, I gotta dust), I can recap less grimly because I'm mostly over it. I know Hong Kong wasn't without transition difficulties and it may be too rosy a memory, but I swear it was easier to move from the US to HK than from HK to Singapore in some aspects. Some things were easier this time, like deciding what to bring (everything), filing familiar paperwork, not having to sell cars, not wondering what it's like to live in Asia.
I have not forgotten how desperate I was for weeks in Hong Kong when we moved into J Residence and couldn't get an internet service provider. One major difference this time is that just before we left HK we bought a laptop (Macbook of course). What a difference. While in hotel and temporary residence, no problem. But again, once we moved into this apartment the trouble started and I was consumed for hours a day by trying to correct it. Worse yet, much of the trouble needn't have happened.
The Icon provides free wireless internet access throughout the building. Great, we thought, we might not have to pay for service, as long as we found the speed acceptable. We got a connection on the laptop but not on the desktop computer. After a couple of days of trying countless fixes, I went to the management office and inquired. I should have done so earlier. I was told I should use a router to connect and I would find a network name listed that would include my location like T2L22, as in tower 2, unit 22. I thought, aha, I don't have a strong enough signal because I'm not using a router. So I bought one but the signal was still so weak it was often non-functional. I visited the office again and they sent up 3 "IT" guys to help. I knew it was a bad sign when one said he'd never seen a Mac before. I asked why I didn't see the network name I was told to look for, T2-blahblah, and after some dancing around they told me that was incorrect information. Basically, they were making up answers. They knew less than I did and their answer was essentially that I should pay for a service. I just didn't want to surrender before I knew I had done everything right. Hours and hours more investigating. I'm up on a lot of tech-speak again.
I concluded there was no malfunction but the connection was just not fast or reliable enough so we planned to sign up for a service subscription. Paul had to leave work early to meet me at the shop (because he had to open the account because he has an employment pass and I don't... see what I mean here...) About an hour before, I found a box in a cabinet above the refrigerator containing a router labeled T2L22. Plugged it in; it worked; I cursed. We went ahead and paid for service anyway because it's still unreliable sharing a public connection, especially during after-work hours when everyone's home web surfing. But I didn't necessarily need to buy my own router, though it is more technologically current. The worst part was wasting about two weeks struggling.
Then there was banking. We opened a Citibank account. The woman who helped us typed so poorly that she had us write all our information in the standard application forms and didn't finish entering it until about nine hours after we left her. We had asked if we could open a multi-currency account and she said we'd have to open separate accounts for each currency, so we opened a Singapore Dollar account. Of course, some days later I saw a brochure detailing Citibank's multi-currency account option. Should have known how things would progress from there.
In Hong Kong, we still had money at HSBC. The way to wire the money from HSBC to Citibank is to go into HSBC and request it. Not an HSBC in Singapore but the HSBC in Hong Kong. Yep. So we had to fill out a request form and mail it to HSBC in Hong Kong and wait and see if the money appeared at Citibank. Thankfully, it did.
...But we couldn't access it. We used Paul's work address when we opened the account here so everything addressed to me got lost because I don't work there, including the checks with both our names on them. And yes, even though it's a joint account, they send everything separately. Paul received his ATM card and PIN so he could withdraw cash, but a situation arose when time came to pay rent. The real estate agent/relocation gang forgot to give us the landlord's payment details so when I realized this as the rent was due, they asked us to make an online bank transfer so it would be on time. This is when we learned that we couldn't access anything online because they send a one-time text message to your mobile phone with an additional PIN. But we didn't have local numbers when we opened the account so they took Paul's HK number and added a Singapore area code to it. Needless to say, he never received the message at this non-existent number. They wouldn't update the contact number to the local number I then had unless we went into the bank, filled out a change form and waited to receive the online banking PIN in the mail.
The landlord's agent threw a minor hissy fit that the rent might be a day late, so Paul ended up going to Citibank, withdrawing cash from the ATM and walking over to the landlord's bank and depositing cash into his account. We've since gone into Citibank to set up automatic bill payments, including rent. In the meantime, after having gone into the bank a month ago and spending 30 minutes filling out update forms, my address still has not been updated, therefore no PINS for me. Paul, on the other hand, has received a good three notices saying they've updated his address.
Back in Hong Kong accounts, I believe we need to have a child (a son probably preferred) so that we can offer the customer service reps this child and perhaps persuade them in finally letting us go. For internet service, Paul got the runaround before leaving Hong Kong and we had to leave the modems with my friend Maggie to return for us because they wouldn't just end the service. We only had a month left on the subscription so we let it run out and then he called from here and it was a bit simpler. However we are still receiving phone bills. When Paul tried twice to cancel, they said they had to call him back each time - on a Hong Kong number. We're just not paying the bills. I don't have a phone contract here so I can eventually leave the country without bills trailing. I read about a plan from a particular phone company that would work well for me, though I did have to go to three of their shops to find someone who knew how to set it up.
I gotta admit, I've gone to bed grumpy many a day here in sunny Singapore. Sorry, this was really boring. Some people pay therapists. This is what do. I owe my readers some sort of payment after this post. Oh, sorry. I still can't get to the money.
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